The present invention relates to an extremely compact device used to help artist's in drawing and painting (the “gridvu”) and more particularly, to a hand positionable, transparent, clear viewing pane with a horizontal level and numerous visual grids superimposed thereon.
In the world of painting, drawing, and technical illustration, understanding the key visual issues is essential to the process of interpreting three-dimensional subject matter. There are five main elements necessary for the rendition of visually correct work. They are fidelity level, proportionality, scale, placement and thrust. Although artistic interpretation varies, the aesthetic value of any work is based on a high degree of accuracy with respect to all the five aforementioned elements. While the ability to correctly interpret what one sees in three dimensions and translate that into a visually aesthetic work on a two-dimension media is a learned skill, this can be simplified and heightened with the use of the gridvu. Thus, the grid view is an ideal instructional tool for beginning artists, as well as a handy reference guide for intermediate and advanced artists.
The earliest tool and still currently in use is a plumb bob with a length of string held in front of the model. For figure work, a tool such as a pencil is used, by sighting and using the head as a measuring unit. While sighting the head with the thumb and pencil, the artist counts the number of heads in the pose. The weakness of this method is the difficulty of accurately positioning the measuring unit as the artist moves the pencil down to make the headcount. With the gridvu only one viewing needs to be made since the artist can simply note the length of the pose at precisely the moment the device is held in front of the subject. A diagonal line with a skull icon serves as a measuring unit to determine the length of a figure in a variety of poses. The head length bar is used by matching the skull icon with the model's head thereby using the head as a yardstick to determine the length of the pose. Another diagonal line is also calibrated to serve as a visual yardstick for variety of applications. The grid system makes it easier to match the ratio of the canvas or drawing surface, to the composition of the subject.
An accurate drawing interpretation is achieved by knowing where lines or shapes are placed on a sheet of paper or other working surface. The grid structure on the gridvu provides various reference points to locate lines or shapes. Directions and shape length are easier to determine because the grid lines can show distance and size relationships between shapes. The gridvu is based on the square which is the simplest form to use for reducing or enlarging shapes without compromising proportional relationships. The gridvu has a simple centering feature, so that the artist can make a quick notation of which part of the subject belongs to which portion of the picture space.
The prior art in this field hereto for has focused on drawing aides for the exact replication, scaling or pixel copying of the subject matter. The gridvu focuses on allowing the artist freedom of expression of their interpretation of the subject matter while remaining within the proper parameters of the subject's fidelity level, proportionality, scale, placement and thrust. With additional masking of the relevant portions of the gridvu, it can also be utilized to “frame” a subject to the canvas or drawing surface (format) proportions. The physical size of the gridvu has been selected so as to allow the artist to reference both distance work, such as landscapes, and close work, such as portraits, within the placement range of normal human arm lengths.
Henceforth, the gridvu would fulfill a long felt need in the world of art. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.